Stuttgart - Dr. Ing. h.c. F.
Porsche AG is to produce its forthcoming sport and off-road utility vehicle in a
purpose-built new plant in the Eastern German city of Leipzig. More than 100 million
German marks are to be invested in the site, buildings and machinery. This project will
also create about 260 jobs. The new Porsche model line will be assembled and undergo final
quality inspection at this new facility.
The Leipzig plant will form part of the linked production scheme also
comprising the main Porsche factory in Stuttgart-Zuffenhausen and the VW plants in
Bratislava, Braunschweig and Hanover/Wolfsburg. Sheet-metal pressings will come from
Hanover or Wolfsburg, axle and suspension components from Braunschweig, and the bodyshell
will be built and painted in Bratislava. More of the added value of this new Porsche SUV
than before will be contributed by system suppliers, who will for the most part also be
situated in Germany.
The engine, the heart of this new and versatile model, will be produced
in Zuffenhausen, where the Boxster and 911 sports cars and their engines are manufactured.
This will not only enhance the performance potential of Porsche’s main plant but also
help to secure the employment situation there. Work will commence on building the Leipzig
factory in the autumn of this year, with the first vehicles due to leave the assembly
lines by the end of 2001. It is intended to launch the new Porsche sports utility vehicle
in 2002, and the Stuttgart-based company, which has invested more than a billion marks in
this new vehicle project, aims to sell more than 20,000 units annually throughout the
world.
The linked production scheme involving the Leipzig and Zuffenhausen
facilities and various VW plants also offers Porsche every opportunity for producing its
new utility vehicle within an optimum cost framework and offering it on competitive terms
to the international market. Leipzig is in a favorable position in terms of transport
logistics on the axis extending from Bratislava to the seaports of Emden and Bremerhaven.
It is planned to export more than two-thirds of Porsche’s SUV production, with the
majority of these vehicles destined for the North American market.
The "virtual production plant" concept that Porsche has
already realized so successfully for the Boxster in cooperation with a Finnish associate
company, will be re-interpreted on a larger scale when production of the new sports
utility vehicle gets under way in Leipzig and the resources offered by the VW linked
production scheme are utilized. This too will mean new growth potential for Porsche
without significantly increasing its production overheads.
Porsche announced in July this year that in addition to its current
Boxster and 911 model lines it was planning to manufacture and sell a "Sports Utility
Vehicle" (SUV) with permanent four-wheel drive. In this market segment, the only one
worldwide which is still expanding strongly, Porsche is confident that the SUV will give
it the necessary operative freedom for further economic development. The Porsche sports
utility vehicle is to be built on the same platform as the corresponding model from
Volkswagen AG. However, the two products will be entirely different in character.
Development work on both of them is being led by Porsche and is concentrated on its
Research and Development Center in Weissach, Germany.
Porsche’s Chief Executive sums up as follows: "Zuffenhausen
is not the only Porsche location that will profit from our new sports utility vehicle.
This joint project has created about 300 new jobs in Weissach for highly qualified
engineers, and is having the same effect at our German suppliers. We at Porsche are proud
that our new SUV project is making a worthwhile contribution towards improving
Germany’s ability to compete still further, demonstrating its innovative skills and
thus making it more attractive when exposed to international comparison." |
